group8lspfandomcom-20200214-history
Primary Research
This section covers all of the experimental section of our project including the experimental proceedure and findings. __TOC__ Experimental Planning This is covered in Planning COSHH In oder for us to use the university's laboratory facilities, a COSHH form had to be filled in outlining any health and safety considerations. These were: *The fact that Potassium Chlorate is an oxidising agent which becomes explosive if it mixed with cobustable materials. It is also harmful if it is inhaled or injected. For these reasons, the experiment was conducted in a fume cupboard. *As a large quantity of carbon dioxide gas is produced from the experiment, any object which blocks the tube will be ejected once the pressure becomes too great. To avoid this, the boiling tubes were angled away from those performing the experiment. Also, the reactants being added to the tube were cut down to a size such that they were unlikely to block the tube. Experimental Proceedure and Set Up Food used.png|Food used in the experiment Measuring Potassium Chlorate.png Experimental Set Up.png The experiment as follows should be conducted in a fume cupboard. As shown in the diagram, a boiling tube containting 15g of Potassium Chlorate is suspended above a bunson burner which is situated on a heat mat. The Potassium Chlorate should be heated until it melts, at which point the bunsen burner should be turned off and moved away. Once the measuring devices have been set to record, the reactant should be added to the tube. Once the reaction has completed, the boiling tube should be carefully removed and allowed to cool. The process should then be repeated with fresh boiling tubes and further 15g amounts of Potassium Chlorate. The data from this experiment was recorded using a mobile phone application. It produced graphs of sound intensity which were then exported as excel graphs. Observations During the course of the experiment, several things were noted: *Not all of the sugar from the sachets reacted as it stuck to the sides of the tube. If the tube was lightly shaken, more of the sugar fell into the tube and caused smaller follow-on reactions. *During the brown sugar reaction, a black paper-like substance was ejected from the boiling tube. *It was noted that wet fruit (fresh apple) produced no light and a lower volume of noise (it simply fizzed and did not 'scream') than dry fruit (dried apple). *During the first experiment involving a jelly baby, it was violently ejected from the boiling tube as it melted and expanded to block the tube. This then allowed the gas to build up and force the jelly baby from the tube. In following experiments, it was decided to slice the jelly baby in half vertically to eliminate this risk of ejection by reducing the surface area of the jelly baby which allowed for a complete reaction to be observed. *In the inital stages of the subsequent jelly baby experiments it was noted that black smoke was produced. *Although jelly babies produced a lot of noise (therefore implying high gas production), dextrose tablets produced light of a greater intensity. The Dextrose tablets reacted more quickly than any of the other substances measured and also produced black smoke at the beginning of the experiment. Results Each reactant along with its weight is listed in the table below. The scales used had an Instument Limit Uncertainty of ± 5x10-5g. Graphs produced from the experiment can be found by clicking here From these graphs it can be seen that the Jelly Babies produced the greatest sound level. Data Analysis The hypothesis behind the experiment was that the more sugar present within the food sample the more vigorous the experiment. This was based on the idea that Potassium Chlorate would react solely with the sugar and none of the other ingredients contained within the food samples. From the table in the results section above and expanding upon the hypothesis of the experiment one would expect that white sugar would have the most vigorous reaction whilst fresh apple would be the least vigorous reaction. From the graphs shown (to the right) it can be seen that this hypothesis is correct. The differences between these two sound levels may seem small but in reality they were different. The fresh apple merely fizzed on the surface whilst the white sugar reacted violently almost instantly producing a loud noise. Although white sugar produced a noise that was only 10 decibels greater, it produced a much more violent reaction. In essence the quantity of sugar in the substance is in proportional to the intensity of the experiment. The table above demonstrates this with the highest ranked producer of sound being the food with the highest concentration of sugar, whilst the lowest rank in sound has the lowest amount of sugar. The exception is the jelly baby itself which has less sugar than a dextrose tablet or Demerara sugar but is louder. 'The origins of this noise might not origenate from the sugar count but rather the gas escaping from the reaction being channeled by the large surface area of the jelly babie produceing the typical howling sound. Either way its unknown why this increase of noise has occured. ' Sources (1) Tesco 'Granulated Sugar' online (2) Tesco 'Demerara Sugar' online (3) Marshall, S. 2009 'Sugar Content of Common Fruits' Online (4) Tesco 'Bassetts Jelly Babies' online (5) Tesco 'Dextro Energy Tablets' online